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waynedshen
Reviews
Dos hermanos (2002)
An overall effective film
I just saw this tonight at a screening, part of a series of Cuban-related films shown at the University of Arizona. This film depicts the conflict between two very different brothers, who are celebrating one of the brother's daughter's quinceañera. Like most of the Cuban films shown in the series, whether shorts or features, this short dealt with political and social issues, in addition to the more ostensible familial issues. It will probably be nearly impossible to find a copy of this film, but if you do get a chance to see it, you could do worse. The director of some of the other films shown in the series said that this film caused quite a stir in Cuba when it came out. I'm not sure about the details, but I guess that makes this more than your typical low budget indie film.
Elizabethtown (2005)
A slightly better than average romantic, coming-of-age comedy
I saw this tonight at a screening. I was hoping that Crowe would draw a great performance from Orlando Bloom, an otherwise horrible actor, but he didn't completely succeed. I guess there's just no accounting for taste. Kirsten Dunst was charming, as were most of the other actors. The movie had some really great shots, and the cinematography was dazzling in places. However, the storyline was a bit clichéd, and some of the dialogue was not only inane, but just plain over-the-top unbelievable. All in all, another positive, feel-good comedy, with better taste than the average Hollywood movie, but still not innovative in any sense of the word. Some people have posted threads about comparisons to Garden State. I think that while there are certainly some superficial similarities (Kirsten Dunst has some weird quirks, for example,) the sentiment of the movies are worlds apart. All in all, worth seeing for a nice relaxing evening...